Football furore: Local television stations will be allowed to broadcast live the national football championship matches on Sunday. The Viet Nam Professional Football JSC claims the broadcasting contract between the Viet Nam Football Federation and the Audio Visual Global Company is illegal. — File Photo

HA NOI — Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday provided direction to help settle disputes about television broadcast rights to timely reserve spectators' demand via television.

Dung asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to resolve the conflict so as to live up to spectators' expectations and then report to the Government.

The Viet Nam Football Federation (VFF) signed a contract with the Audio Visual Global Company (AVG) from 2010-30 and recently released an official document stating that AVG has all broadcasting rights for the national football championship (Super League).

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam Professional Football JSC (VPF) said that the exclusive broadcast rights contract between the VFF and the AVG was illegal and television stations should be allowed to broadcast live the tournament's matches.

The VPF and organising board are required to respect that broadcasting rights now belong to the AVG, which means television stations can only broadcast matches with AVG permission.

During investigations, the Government leader allowed television stations to broadcast all matches under the management of the VPF.

After receiving PM Dung's direction, AVG sent a press release to affirm that it would strictly obey the PM's direction. — VNS